The present invention relates generally to an electrical contact and, more specifically, to the crimp barrel of a stamped electrical contact and a method of making the same.
Stamped and formed electrical contacts--whether pin and socket, rectangular cantilever beam, or blade and tuning fork types--have traditionally used a split barrel of B crimp configuration or a split barrel oversleeved with a seamless tube for terminating the wire. The split barrel B crimp and other similar crimp configurations used for terminating stamped contacts to wires have not been considered usable for most military/aerospace applications because of their tendancy to relax under temperature cycling, vibrations and shock. As a consequence, the military has required that the split barrel be oversleeved with a seamless tube. The addition of the tube on the military-type oversleeved split barrel is objectionable for adding cost and additional wall thickness which may result in contact density penalties. Also, the tube constitutes a loose piece that can be lost.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome the attendant disadvantages of the crimp barrels of the prior art stamped and formed electrical contacts discussed above by providing a stamped contact having a closed barrel suitable for military/aerospace applications without the use of an additional tube.